2882 social-studies results | sort by:

Global Closet Calculator - National Geographic Education
Grades
2 to 10tag(s): natural resources (58), resources (107)
In the Classroom
When discussing the Food and Fiber system (materials used to produce food and the many products we use daily), use this site to gather initial information of where their items come from. As products are no longer made closer to our actual lives, many students are disconnected from the materials and processes used to create everyday products and are unaware of their global footprint. Students can continue research by investigating other items used daily to determine what they are made from, where they are manufactured, etc. Continue this process with the foods that they eat to show how many popular foods are very removed from the whole foods that we should be eating. In geography classes, have students use a reviewed geo/mapping tool from the TeachersFirst Edge to map the path across the globe from raw materials to finished products, just to make one pair of jeans. Discuss the role of natural resources and economics in determining this path.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Zeeik - Compeprice LLC
Grades
K to 12tag(s): search engines (62), video (278)
In the Classroom
Find how-to videos or videos on a curriculum topic in this tool. Create a Zeeik for your class to use to view videos selected by you for any topic and in any subject. In primary grades, create a Zeeik for students to access as a center and answer questions or complete a drawing about the topic. Create a class account for students to curate videos for the rest of the class to comment and rate them. Share your Zeeik with students and parents by placing the link on your web page. ESL/ELL teachers will like the ease of collecting videos to reinforce language skills.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sheppard Software: Free Online Learning Games - Sheppard Software
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): addition (227), alphabet (86), alphabetical order (19), animal homes (61), animals (322), capitalization (18), capitals (24), cells (99), colors (80), continents (51), counting (113), countries (81), decimals (125), dinosaurs (55), division (161), elements (33), endangered species (41), equations (151), estimation (48), fractions (228), geometric shapes (173), grammar (212), integers (40), landforms (49), life cycles (24), measurement (175), money (185), multiplication (211), number lines (32), number sense (96), numbers (197), oceans (165), order of operations (40), parts of speech (67), patterns (87), periodic table (51), place value (54), puzzles (203), states (165), subtraction (187), time (141), vocabulary (321), vocabulary development (124)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to use as a resource for computer center games and activities throughout the year. Share curriculum-related resources on your interactive whiteboard or projector. This site could work well in a BYOD or 1:1 classroom. Share with parents as a resource to use at home or as a summer skills review and refresher.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Hangout - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): chat (51), DAT device agnostic tool (179), video (278)
In the Classroom
Start a Hangout and invite others from your Circles or Google contacts. Connect whole classrooms across the country for book clubs. Connect experts such as authors and scientists to classrooms of children. Create connected learning experiences with other students, especially those in older grades. Connect world language classes to classes in other countries. Students interested in graphic design can connect with an expert or artist far away and share current work in a virtual critique. Connect students with mentors or older students for help with homework. Teachers can hold "office hours" for homework help and asking questions. Whole buildings can collaborate and share professional development with others in their own district and beyond! Be sure to connect with other educators on your own and enjoy the professional development that also exists within the Hangouts! Be sure to create Circles within Google Plus to meet any concerns with your administration regarding privacy.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Otter - Scurry Labs
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): calendars (47), classroom management (159), homework (42)
In the Classroom
If your school does not provide such a space, Otter is perfect for teachers to create a simple class page for interaction with parents and accessibility by students. Manage your classroom with this tool. Use as a class hub to manage documents, photos, and files. Be sure to share your link so students and parents can access both in and out of the classroom. Use Otter in teacher ed programs to show future teachers how a website can enhance instruction.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Twitter Magnets - twittermagnets.com
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): creative fluency (7), microblogging (40), poetry (219), twitter (45), writing prompts (93)
In the Classroom
Create a message or "poem" of the day as a class to send from your class Twitter account. Use as a center activity or have student groups create their own messages about what you have learned today in any subject area class. Have ELL students create simple messages to reinforce language skills. If you don't have a Twitter account, just have students create offline messages. Take a quick screen shot, then write, illustrate, and share on your classroom bulletin board! Generate creative messages as a class to use as writing prompts. Have students tell the story (or nonfiction news account) about what caused the message. Looking for more ways to use Twitter in the classroom? Read more about Twitter at TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page. You can also use this site as a tool to teach about digital citizenship and the etiquette of tweets.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Children's Literature with Social Studies Themes - University of Delaware Center for Teacher Education
Grades
K to 6tag(s): book lists (131), branches of government (49), guided reading (47), independent reading (128), literature (272)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save for reference throughout the school year for use with Social Studies lessons. Save as a resource when choosing books for your classroom or school library. Use the included articles for ideas to include books with your Social Studies lessons and units. Need more book ideas to support curriculum? See TeachersFirst's CurriConnects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pocket - Read It Later, Inc
Grades
K to 12tag(s): bookmarks (68), DAT device agnostic tool (179)
In the Classroom
Use Pocket professionally to collect and share websites, videos, and images for lessons and units. Use Pocket to share sites with colleagues, parents, and students. Share this site with older students to use to save resources they find for research. Demonstrate how to use Pocket and share with students as a resource for collaborating on group projects. Be sure to talk about using tags to organize things so they don't end up with a giant "pocketful" of tangled "stuff."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Listen and Read: Reading Activities for Early Learners - Scholastic
Grades
K to 3tag(s): audio books (28), guided reading (47), preK (288), vocabulary development (124)
In the Classroom
Use this site in early elementary grades to help students begin to read and interpret informational text (a key piece of Common Core). Because of its multiple levels, you can easily use this site to differentiate. Share the stories on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Assign each student a different community worker to learn about. Have the students learn three new facts about their community worker to share with the class during a social studies lesson on communities. Have your ESL/ELL or learning support students write their own comprehension questions and answers based on the information to check their own comprehension and to exchange with their classmates.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Emaze - emaze.com
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Create a slideshow for any classroom presentation, with all grade levels. In lower grades, use teacher-created shows or make one together as a class on the projector or interactive whiteboard. Share it on your website or blog for students to review or for students who were absent. If they are allowed to set up personal accounts, have students create and collaborate on their own presentations. Alternatively, create a class account for students to use. Share students' work on your classroom website or blog. (Be sure to get parent permission first!) Use this tool in many different ways. Have students use this online tool as they would any presentation tool. Use this site for research projects about famous people from the past and present. Have cooperative learning groups create presentations about science or math topics. Have students create presentations to "introduce" themselves to the class during the first week of school. Link or embed the presentations on your class wiki and have others guess which student they describe. Share student projects with parents and others via URL. Use the infographics template to make quick and easy infographics about any subject. Report information from class polls, create infographics for reports on states, famous people, or any topic that would include multiple uses of data! Be sure to demonstrate HOW to use this tool on your interactive whiteboard or projector.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Clipping Magic - clippingmagic.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): images (277), photography (157)
In the Classroom
Use Clipping Magic to create masks for classroom plays or activities. Share with students for use with projects to create and combine images without busy backgrounds. For example, create pictures of presidents, castles, or plants for use with any report or on slides for a presentation. Take pictures of students; then remove the background. Save images for use throughout the year in hall displays, bulletin boards, on reward certificates, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Make and Do Games - Kent County Council
Grades
K to 3tag(s): africa (168), animals (322), back to school (62), christmas (55), colors (80), communities (37), dinosaurs (55), easter (12), firstday (25), halloween (38), insects (72), matter (60), nursery rhymes (16), oceans (165), plants (174), ponds (8), preK (288)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site for use throughout the year. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use activities on your interactive whiteboard for time fillers, story starters, and center time. Use the "Me Maker" for students to introduce themselves at the beginning of the school year or for use with your Student of the Week. Several activities include printables to print and use for centers and homework. Use the "Help Me ID Cards" as an excellent resource for your community helpers unit. Be sure to check out the many seasonal activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Ukaliq: The Arctic Hare - Canadian Museum of Nature
Grades
2 to 8tag(s): animals (322), arctic (46), food chains (24)
In the Classroom
Post this link to a class web page for students to access during a unit on animals and adaptations or the Acrtic. Have students choose interesting information learned from the site to share with their groups or the class. Use the interactives to learn about the Arctic Hare. Use this site's organization for students to create their own wiki pages about other animals they research. Expand your discussion to include other animals that would be in a food chain with the Arctic Hare and the characteristics that these animals would possess. Have students create a presentation using a tool such as Piktochart reviewed here, or Picfont, reviewed here. Compare and contrast the Arctic hare to its relatives in warmer climates.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Toporopa: Geography of Europe - Toporopa
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): countries (81), europe (74), maps (298), rivers (25), volcanoes (66)
In the Classroom
Create a link on classroom computers for students to explore these interactives. This site could be used in world cultures, world geography, world languages, science, government, and many other subjects. Have students try the games and then research further information. For example, after finding all European countries that have a reigning monarch, have students find further information on the monarchies. Challenge the students to use a tool like Zoho Show (similar to Powerpoint, but easier and free) reviewed here to share their findings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Timeline JS - Northwestern University Knight Lab
Grades
K to 12tag(s): timelines (58)
In the Classroom
Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to share timelines about historical events, research literature, learn about different decades and events throughout the world, and more. Have students create timelines for research projects. Use a whole class Google account or individual Google apps accounts if you have them. Use this tool to make a timeline of your school year. Create author biographies, animal life cycles, or timelines of events and causes of wars. Challenge students to create a timeline of the plot of a novel, interspersed with the ways themes appear throughout the novel. If you teach chemistry, have students create illustrated sequences explaining oxidation or reduction (or both). Have elementary students interview grandparents and create a class timeline about their grandparents for Grandparents' Day. Why not create a timeline highlighting students' family events for a special gift for Mother's Day, Father's Day, or other holidays? You may need to assign students to do some investigative work first (years of births, marriages, vacations, etc.). In world language classes, have students create a timeline of their family in the language to master with vocabulary about relatives, jobs, and more (and verb tenses!). Students learn about photo selection, detail writing, chronological order, and photo digitization while creating the timelines of their choice. Making a timeline is also a good way to review the history and cultural developments.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Young George Washington's Adventures - National Park Service
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): american revolution (85), native americans (78), presidents (123), washington (29)
In the Classroom
Use this site on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start your study of George Washington or the American Revolution. Have students create an annotated image of George Washington or a related image including text boxes and links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Have students create maps using Animaps (reviewed here) of Washington's journey. Students can add text, images, and location stops! Have students create timelines (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Capzles (reviewed here).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Jimdo - Christian Springub
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): portfolios (32)
In the Classroom
Possible uses are only limited by your imagination! Create your own website for parents and students to stay updated on classroom happenings. Include links for students to submit assignments, your contact information, and anything else you might want to include. Try using Jimdo for: "visual essays;" digital biodiversity logs (with digital pictures students take); online literary magazines; or personal reflections in images and text. Use this tool for research project presentations. Create comparisons of online content, such as political candidates' sites or content sites used in research (compared for bias). Create science sites to document experiments or illustrate concepts, such as the water cycle. Use this site for "visual" lab reports. Have students create digital scrapbooks using images from the public domain and video and audio clips from a time in history - - such as the Roaring Twenties. Use it for local history interactive stories or visual interpretations of major concepts, such as a "visual" U.S. Constitution. Imagine building your own online library of raw materials for your students to create their own "web pages" as a new way of assessing understanding. You provide the digital pictures, and they sequence, caption, and write about them (younger students). With older students, you can provide the steps in a project as a template, and they can insert the actual content of their own. After a first project where you provide "building blocks," the sky is the limit on what students can create. The free account does limit the amount of file storage, so you may want to create several class accounts for small groups to use. Even the very young can make suggestions as you "create" a whole-class product together using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Consider making a new project for each unit you teach so students can "recap" long after the unit ends. Use as an online portfolio for high schools students to include with college or job applications.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Taggstar - Taggstar.com
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use digital images of lab experiments or class activities for sharing on a class wiki or blog with clickable enhancements offering additional information. If individual computers aren't available, share the images on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Since audio options are available, even non-readers can use this tool! Have students add links or even a blog reaction or explanation to their project or experiment image. Use the site for making a photography or art portfolio blog. Have students annotate images to explain their work or various techniques they used. World language or ESL/ELL teachers can enhance images with links to sound files or other explanations for better understanding. Use in world language to label items in an image with the correct words in that language. Young students can write simple sentences to practice language skills while explaining about a favorite picture or activity. Use in Science to explain the experiment or parts of an animal or organism. Use in a Consumer Science class to explain cooking or other techniques. Consider creating a class account for student groups to use together. Teachers can create a Taggstar of an image with questions and links that students must investigate to respond as a self-directed learning activity. An image of a tree could have questions and links about types of leaves, photosynthesis, and the seasons, for example.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Next Vista for Learning - Rushton Hurley
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): africa (168), asia (72), careers (139), computers (102), europe (74), literature (272), musical instruments (51), musical notation (39), north america (19), parts of speech (67), poetry (219), shakespeare (110), south america (40), speech (89), video (278)
In the Classroom
Explore the various topics to share with your students. In the math section, share the "How to Show Your Work" video on your projector or interactive whiteboard. There are useful videos in all sections, offered at a variety of levels. Bookmark and save this site for use throughout the year for student and teacher created videos. Challenge students to create a video to submit for one of the site's contests; who knows, they may win!Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Products can be shared by URL
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TeachersFirst's BYOD Dream Tools: Free Tools that Work on ANY device! - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (159), DAT device agnostic tool (179)
In the Classroom
Mark this page in your Favorites to use when choosing or recommending tools for your students (or their parents). Be sure to read the "Edge Features" list at the end of each review to know whether you need to create individual accounts, how products can be shared, and other tips on using these DATs safely and within school policies. This is a must-have list for students collaborating on projects using different types of devices! If you teach gifted students working on advanced projects or have students all working on different projects all at the same time, use this collection of tools as a trusted starting point for students to create their products on any device they may bring to class (or work on from home).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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